Why's a Nice Girl Like You, Getting Akumatized?
by tbehartoo
Summary: Adrien has a friend that will be new to class. Surely everyone will welcome his friend. Right?


Adrien was excitedly talking to Nino about a new student coming to their class. Alya and Marinette were listening at their desk behind the boys, admiring the enthusiasm that their friend was showing. Most of the class was already present, which was a rarity.

"I haven't seen Clara in a few years," Adrien was saying, "not since my mom…"

"That's because her mom and your mom were friends, right?" Nino said at the sight of Adrien's face falling into a frown.

His face started to brighten up. "Yeah, we often went to their home in Nice over the summer." He smiled. "I really hope you guys can make her feel welcome, she can be kind of shy at times."

"Hey we've got her back, bro!" Nino said with a grin.

"Don't worry Adrien," Alya said, "We'll be sure to roll out the welcome wagon."

"Y-y-y-yeah," Marinette stuttered. "Any friend of yours is a f-f-friend of ours."

Alya gave Marinette a pat on the back for nearly making it through the whole sentence without stuttering while Adrien's attention had been focused on the love-struck girl.

The door burst open and a flustered girl hurried into the room. She had light brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail with loose strands framing her face. She was wearing a light green, long sleeved shirt with the sleeves rolled up and dark, blue jeans with black high-heeled boots. Her ocean blue eyes were frantically scanning the classroom. She spotted Adrien and hurried over to him.

"Am I late?"

"You're just in time!" he said warmly. Turning to his seated friends he gestured to each as he said, "This is Nino, Alya, and Marinette. I'd like you all to meet Clara L'aigle."

They all replied with some version of "nice to meet you" before Clara asked Adrien, "How much time do I have until class starts?"

"You have about seven minutes," Alya said as she looked at her phone for the time.

"Oh I hope that's enough time to put on a little foundation and some lipstick," she said as she pulled a small makeup bag from her backpack that she'd set on Adrien's desk. "I was so nervous last night I didn't get to sleep till late, and I've been stressing so much I'm breaking out, and then I woke up too late to put my face on."

"You certainly need a better one than the one you've currently got," came the waspish voice from behind the scrambling girl.

"Chloe, that was so rude!" Marinette exclaimed as she jumped up to stand between Clara and the intruder. "You owe her an apology."

"What?" Chloe said as if shocked "You can see those pimples from the international space station."

With that the girl burst into tears and ran from the room while Chloe smirked.

Adrien stood to go after his friend. "That was uncalled for Chloe!"

"But Adrikins you know I was telling the truth," Chloe pouted as she hung onto his arm. "Why get mad at me for that?"

Adrien wrenched his arm out of her grasp in disgust and ran out the door. If he was fast maybe he could get to Clara before Hawkmoth.

Adrien was fast, but Hawkmoth was faster. Just as he got to the girls' bathroom, the door was blasted off its hinges. Only the past year of being Chat Noir saved him from being skewered by shards of wood as he lept to the side. He was getting up from the floor when a red beam shot out and enveloped him and several others in the hall. Suddenly Adrien felt as if the skin all over his body was bubbling. The sensation was accompanied with an insistent, deep pain. He noticed red bumps forming with hard white centers and suddenly realized what Clara's akuma power must be. He turned, expecting to see a monster oozing puss and putrescence, and was surprised when the being that stepped forth was more like a living doll. Her skin was porcelain and pristine, her hair pulled back into a bun with one strand curling expertly on one side of her face, and her clothes, including her shoes, were made of thousands of reflecting mirrors.

"Patience, patience Acneator is coming," she said to an unseen partner as she moved in the direction of the classroom.

Adrien was hurting too much to do anything to stop Clara from returning to the classroom, but he forced himself into the bathroom where he could transform in relative privacy. Once he was suited up the pain subsided a little. Chat ran to his classroom and was again surprised to find that only one person had been targeted by the akuma.

Chloe and the akuma were at the front of the room while everyone seemed to be in their regular places. Chat wasn't sure if everyone was held in place by the akuma's power or just in surprise at seeing Chloe Bourgeois with a face full of red, angry looking pimples.

"I don't know if that's enough," the akuma was saying. "Do you suppose that zit on your nose is big enough to be seen from space yet?"

"Stop it!" Chloe cried. "Why are you doing this to me?"

"Really Chloe?" the question was coming from quiet Rose of all people. "You have no idea where this is coming from?"

"She's just jealous of my beauty," Chloe proclaimed as she was hit by another red beam and the blemishes on her face began to visibly grow.

"So it's not because you insulted her in front of a classroom full of people?" Alya asked as she filmed from her seat.

"Or because she'd been here less than three minutes before you started bullying her?" Nino added.

"Of course not!" Chloe cried. Another red beam enveloped her.

"Zit's amazing to me that you can't tell what the problem is Mademoiselle Bourgeois," Chat said as he slowly made his way into the room. "Your classmates have spelled it out for you. It's as plain as the nose on your face." He looked at the slightly oozing sore that was now Chloe's nose, "Or as plain as your nose used to be."

"Chat Noir, you get over here and stop this akuma right now!" Chloe ordered.

"Well you see there's a _pimple_ problem with that Chloe," Chat said as he moved to put himself between the class and the akuma. "My lady hasn't shown up yet. She might have had to stop to powder her nose, but I'm sure she'll _**pop**_ up any minute and then we can get ahead of this problem."

There were several faint groans from the class with at least a few appreciative laughs at Chat's puns. Chat grinned to hear both reactions.

"You need to apologize to her, Chloe," Marinette said quiet but firm.

"She should apologize for what she's doing to me!" Chloe yelled back.

"Be quiet Chloe," Chat commanded. "Uh, mademoiselle akuma?" he called softly.

"Yes, Chat Noir," the voice sounded like vibrating crystal glasses.

"I hate to burst your bubble, but aren't you supposed to be demanding my miraculous by now?" He gave his best smile to the living doll.

The girl tilted her head as if listening to an inner voice. "Yes I am, but I don't care about getting your miraculous."

"What?" Chat was clearly taken aback. "Why not?"

"I have achieved the revenge for which I was akumatized," she looked back at Chloe and pointed her makeup compact at the miserable girl preparing to fire once again. "I have seen Chloe suffer in the way that she made me suffer."

"Wait!" Chloe held up a hand. "I," she took a deep breath, "I'm very sorry."

"What are you sorry for," came the chiming voice. "Are you sorry for your actions or for the consequences of those actions?"

There was silence for what seemed like forever before Chloe choked out, "Both."

"That's the closest thing any of us have ever gotten to an apology from Chloe, dude," Nino's voice rang out. "You probably ought to just go with that."

The perfectly inhuman face turned to look at Nino who nodded nervously. "Very well," she said, "I will accept your apology Chloe. I hope that in the future you will remember to be kinder when commenting on someone's appearance."

"Yes," Chloe said, "Yes, I will." She took a shuddering breath as tears started to roll down her face, "I promise."

"Then I have no more need for this," she said as she handed the compact to Chat Noir. "I hope you can find a way to reverse the damage done."

Chat stared down at the item in his hand and then back up at the akuma and back down to the compact. He had never had this happen before! What was he supposed to do now?

"Oh," he cleared his throat, "I'll just go find Ladybug and have her fix this for you."

"Thank you Chat," she smiled at him and cracks started to appear in the perfect porcelain mask.

That worried Chat. He held tight to the compact and ran out of the room.

Shortly after he left Marinette suddenly yelled, "Adrien! What happened to him?" and she tore out of the door.

Ladybug joined Chat Noir on the roof of the school.

"Sorry Chaton," she said, "No screaming crowds, no one making demands for our miraculous under the Tower," she gave a sheepish shrug, "It took awhile for me to know that there was an akuma attack even happening."

Chat merely nodded. He was savoring the easiest akuma fight he'd ever been involved with. He handed the compact to Ladybug and watched with fascination as a butterfly that was half black and half white emerged.

Ladybug finished cleansing the butterfly and then called out, "Miraculous Ladybug!" Swarms of magical ladybugs covered Chat and then moved to the other akuma victims in the school. In a matter of seconds they disappeared.

Ladybug and Chat just looked at each other and laughed.

"I wish they could all be that easy," Chat said.

"Yeah," Ladybug smiled at him, "but we'd be pulling a lot of guard duty around Chloe."

"Good point," Chat said as he offered her a fist for them to perform their signature move.

"I'd better bug out," Ladybug said as she brought her own hand up for the fist bump, "I'm missing class."

"Oh yeah," Chat said. "I'd better be getting back, too."

When Adrien walked back into the class he found Clara surrounded by people telling her what a cool akuma she had been, while Chloe sat in a desk at the back. Soon Ms. Bustier had them settled down and classes resumed.

When the bell rang dismissing them to go to lunch, Adrien was excitedly telling Clara about the cafe that they usually went to and Clara did something no one expected. She stopped in front of Chloe's desk, the blonde girl visibly flinched and did not look up.

"Hey Chloe, Adrien is taking me to a really awesome cafe for lunch. Would you like to join us?"

Chloe was not the only one that was shocked by her invitation.

"You really want me to come?" she asked a little suspiciously.

"Of course, Adrien talked about you all the time when he came to visit us in Nice. I'd like to get to know you." She gave a Chloe a sincere smile. "We can compare notes on what he was like when he was little."

Suddenly Chloe's face broke out into a knowing smirk. "Oh we most certainly should compare notes."

Clara turned to the girl sitting next to Chloe, "Would you like to come with us, too? I noticed you and Chloe were talking together at times this morning."

Sabrina didn't answer until first looking at Chloe who gave the slightest of nods. "I'd be pleased to join you," she said as she got up. "My name's Sabrina, by the way."

"Nice to meet you Sabrina," Clara said as she started walking with Chloe. She turned back around to see where the others were. "Alya, Marinette, aren't you coming, too?"

"What? You think we want to eat with-" Alya was shocked but the pleading look on Adrien's face made her reconsider what she was going to say. "Yeah, I've just got to finish putting my things away."

"We'll be right there," Marinette said and the smile that Adrien sent her way made a whole lunch with Chloe totally worth it.

Nino was walking next to Adrien as they followed the girls out of the room. "I don't know what you were worried about, bro. Clara seems to be totally in her element."

"Yeah she does," Adrien agreed.

"And now we get to hear all the stories about little Adrien and the hijinks he got up to," Nino added.

Suddenly Adrien's face went red as he remembered some of the things he and Clara had done at her house. "What kind of monster have I unleashed?" he groaned to his friend.

Nino laughed. "Well if her akuma form is any indication, she will be the politest monster in the history of the city."

At that Adrien had to laugh. "Well she is a Nice girl!"


End file.
